Lantern Path Books is an independent imprint by Andrew Roache.

Who is behind the books

Lantern Path Books is the imprint name; Andrew Roache is the author. One person, working slowly. Based in Australia.

I started writing picture books because I wanted something quieter for evenings with the kids in my life. Bedtime shouldn't be high-stakes. The world is loud enough.

So Oliver came along: a small character with a lantern, walking home through soft scenes. The first book is called Oliver and the Lantern Path. There are four in the series so far, with more in development.

What we publish

Lantern Path Books publishes picture books for ages 2–5. The voice is quiet, considered, and concrete. No chase scenes. No fart jokes. No copyrighted-character references.

If you'd like to see the current catalogue, the Oliver series page has all four books.

How the books are made

Our illustrations are produced with AI image-generation tools, then human-curated and human-approved. Our stories are written by a person, edited by a person, and read aloud by a person before they ship. We disclose this here, on every book's copyright page, and on the platforms where our books are sold, in line with each platform's current policy.

I want to be honest about process. The Oliver books are illustrated with AI assistance. Every page is reviewed, edited, and finalized by me before publication. I'd never publish something I'd be embarrassed to read to a four-year-old.

The AI assistance is a tool, like a brush or a layout grid. It doesn't replace decisions about character, scene, mood, and emotion (those are mine). It speeds up the parts that don't need a human (line cleanup, palette experiments, alternate framings) so I can spend longer on the parts that do (character consistency, emotional pacing, page-by-page review).

This honesty is a values choice. I won't claim what isn't true.

What this site is for

This site exists for three reasons:

• To give parents and educators a place to learn about the books
• To offer free printables that go alongside the stories
• To make it easy for schools and libraries to order bundles or get reading guides

If you have feedback or questions, the contact page is the best place.

What this site is NOT

• Not a marketing funnel disguised as content
• Not a daily-newsletter machine
• Not selling your data
• Not making fake claims about awards, bestseller status, school adoption, or library adoption
• Not running tracking pixels on you (currently)

If anything on the site ever feels off to you, please let me know.